A haul of cocaine¹ with a street value of up to £300m has been found hidden inside a luxury yacht in Southampton, the UK Border Agency has said.

英国边境管理局称，一大批街头黑市价达3亿英镑的可卡因在南安普顿一艘豪华游艇上被发现。

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UK Border Agency officers found the drugs in a specially built compartment
Officials found 1.2 tonnes of cocaine hidden in a secret compartment in the £1m yacht two months ago.

The 90% pure drugs were so well hidden in the 65ft pleasure cruiser（巡洋舰） , the Louise, it took six days to find them.

The border agency claimed the discovery was the UK's biggest ever Class A drug seizure⁴.

The agency said the drugs inside the Louise originated in South America and were en route（在途中） to the Netherlands. Dutch police have arrested six men.

They are thought to be an organised crime gang.

French authorities were alerted to the Louise while it was in the Caribbean in May and it was then tracked to Southampton.

Officials spent six days searching the vessel⁵ and found the drugs packed in a specially-designed compartment beneath the boat's bathing platform, UKBA said.

It is understood the cocaine was packed inside the boat while it was in Venezuela.

The average purity of cocaine seized at the UK border is 63%, officials said.

Boat owner arrested

The haul is estimated to be worth about £50m wholesale⁶ and up to £300m on the streets.

Since the drugs were found in June, the UKBA has helped Dutch police track members of the gang and six Dutch nationals were arrested during early morning raids on Tuesday.

A 60-year-old, who owns the boat, was arrested in Meppel. His three sons, aged⁷ 27, 32 and 34, are also being held following police raids in Waalwijk and Heusden.

Two 44-year-old men were also arrested in Amsterdam.

A total of 100,000 euros (£87,300), two Harley Davidson motorcycles, two firearms, a silencer（消音器） and a quantity of ecstasy⁸（狂喜，入迷） were also seized.

Brodie Clark, head of the UKBA's border force, said: "This has been an enormous seizure of cocaine. This is the largest we have on record."